he takes lip to powdered lip 

and breathes - it is enough: 

his voice runs chains of desire 

that wrap me up and tighten 

across brain, muscle, organ: 

i his being entire 

yet deep within these flickers
of caress incarnate
under ceaseless layers of greying blazer 

and stubborn starches of shirt 

embedded tight inside the kernel
of the core of self                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

i can hear echoes of heartbeat, and clutch                                                       Illustration by Amy Teh                                        

to yearnings to break his swollen touch 

Juliette Bretan is a first year English Literature student at Murray Edwards College